Glossary P
P
- Partnership
- More than one individual or entity that conduct business together.
- Patent
- A government grant giving the right to exclude others from making, using or selling an invention. A Canadian patent applies within Canada for 20 years from the date of filing of a patent application. The patent application is open for public inspection 18 months after filing.
- Patent application
- A patent application consists of an abstract, a specification and often drawings. The abstract is a brief summary of the contents of the specification. The specification comprises a clear and complete description of the invention and its usefulness and claims which define the boundaries of patent protection. To receive an official filing date in Canada, you must submit no less than the following: statement that a patent is sought, document describing an invention, name of the applicant, address of the applicant or the applicant's patent agent, prescribed filing fee. A complete patent application further includes the following: formal petition, abstract of the invention, claim or claims to the invention, any drawings mentioned in the description, paper and computer-readable copies of nucleotide sequence listings, if applicable, and appointment of a registered patent agent or representative when required.
- Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
- An international treaty providing for standardized filing procedures for foreign patents in the countries that have signed the treaty.
- Patent document
- A document containing a specification (i.e. a clear and complete description of an invention and its usefulness, and claims which define the boundaries of patent protection), an abstract (i.e. a brief summary of the contents of the specification), drawings (if necessary to complete the description of the invention) along with other information from the patent file with the Patent Office. The patent document provides a wealth of information: a capsule description of a particular technology; back-ground history of a problem; how the new invention overcomes these problems; a complete description for making the invention; and any conditions under which the invention will not work.
- Patent examination
- The process through which the Patent Office determines whether a patent application fulfills the requirements for a grant of patent.
- Patent law
- Law relating to patent rights.
- Patent Office
- The office that receives, processes, classifies and examines applications for patents. The Patent Office is also known as CIPO's Patent Branch. It also registers assignments or changes of ownership, processes allowances, collects fees and publishes information on patents. In brief, the Patent Branch is Canada's patent granting authority and disseminator of patent information.
- Patent protection
- The protection involving the possibility of patent right enforcement by the patent owner with the help of the legal system.
- Patent right
- The right to exclude others from making, using and or selling an invention.
- Patent search
- Is a review of existing patents. Patent searches are conducted to determine whether an applicant can claim rights to an invention, or whether a patent has already been issued to someone else on the same or a similar invention. Patent infringement searches are made to ascertain whether a product or process can be produced without having to get permission or pay a royalty. Patent searches are also used as a form of research to gain information on existing technology.
- Petition (patents)
- The formal request for obtaining a patent. It should contain an indication of the request for grant of a patent, the names and complete addresses of the applicant and all inventors, a title for the invention, a request for "small entity" status (if applicable), as well as the figure number of the drawing that the applicant wishes to accompany the abstract when the patent application is open to public inspection. The applicant may also indicate in the petition or in a separate document the name of the registered patent agent or representatives (as applicable), and requests for priority (if any).
- Place of origin
- A word or depiction that designates the origin of a product or service and therefore may not be registered as a trade-mark.
- Plant breeders' rights
- Legal protection for plant breeders for new plant varieties for up to 18 years.
- Plant Breeders' Rights Act
- The Canadian Plant Breeders' Rights Act gives you exclusive rights to new varieties of some plant species. To be protected, the varieties must be new (that is, not previously sold, different from all other varieties), uniform (that is, all plants in the variety must be the same), and stable (that is each generation must be the same as the rest).
- Plant Breeders' Rights Office (PBRO)
- The Plant Breeders' Rights Office (PBRO) is part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The Office functions to secure the rights of plant breeders by granting protection for their new varieties. The Office examines applications to determine whether applicants are entitled to receive a grant of rights. It publishes and distributes plant breeders' rights information via the Plant Varieties Journalsee Plant Varieties Journal), records details of incoming applications and assists the public in obtaining documentation pertaining to a right that has been published.
- Plant Varieties Journal
- The Plant Breeders' Rights Office (PBRO) publishes the Plant Varieties Journal containing information concerning plant breeders' rights. The Journal is distributed on a quarterly basis. The Journal provides an opportunity for all interested persons to review the information concerning a variety and to object to the particulars of the published applications/descriptions if they feel the requirements for distinctiveness, uniformity and stability or other requirements of the Act have not been met.
- Precious Metals
- Precious metals means gold, silver, platinum or any of the platinum group of metals.
- Precious Metals Marking Act
- The Precious Metals Marking Act prohibits the use of false, misleading or incorrect marks in relation to precious metal articles. The Trade-marks Office cooperates with the Precious Metals Marking Section of the Consumer Products Branch of Industry Canada in attempting to reduce the chances of marks being registered which might be misconstrued by the trade as representing quality marks. Canada's Precious Metals Marking Act states that you must file a trade-mark application for the trade-mark used on the wares, if you wish to stamp a quality mark (e.g. 10K gold) on your product. The quality mark itself is not mandatory.
- Prima facie
- Sufficient to establish a fact or to raise a presumption of fact unless rebutted: prima facie evidence.
- Prior art (industrial designs)
- The body of existing designs, either registered or published throughout the world.
- Prior art (patents)
- The body of existing patents or patent applications, or any other publication throughout the world, relevant to an application or a patent.
- Provincial incorporation
- Incorporation of a business at the provincial or territorial level according to the legislation of the province or territory concerned.
- Provincial registration
- A company that intends to conduct business in Canadian provinces or territories, whether it is incorporated under the federal or provincial system, must also register with the province or territory concerned.
- Publishing of the application (trade-marks)
- The publishing of an application in the weekly Trade-marks Journal. This provides an opportunity for the public to formally object to our intention to register such trade-marks.
